Faux camisole

ABSTRACT

The present invention shows a faux camisole that a woman may put on to cover her cleavage when a low cut clothing item is being worn. For example, if a dress has a dipping neckline in front and the woman is going to work, a faux camisole can cover her cleavage. However, on her way home, if the woman stops for an evening out, the faux camisole may be removed to reveal the cleavage. The present invention shows a faux camisole that is attached to the straps of a brassiere worn by the woman, a torso strap holds the bottom of the faux camisole in place.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/688,718, filed on Jan. 15, 2010, which is a continuation-in-part of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/041,252 filed on Mar. 3, 2008.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of The Invention

The present invention relates to a camisole and, more particularly, to a faux camisole that can be worn to cover a lady's cleavage and removed when the lady wants to show her cleavage.

2. Description of the Related Art

A camisole is a short sleeveless undergarment for women. Sometimes a camisole is even referred to as a short negligee jacket for women. Many different types of camisoles have been made in the past. Typically a camisole is worn over a woman's brassiere and covers the woman's cleavage. Camisoles have been used by nursing mothers for some time with a typical camisole being shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,854,132 to Polzin. A nursing mother typically prefers to cover her breasts while nursing the young child with a typical example being shown in Polzin.

Camisoles have also been developed for use in the medical environment such as with mastectomy patients. A typical example of a camisole that can be used with a mastectomy patient is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,048,252 to Sebring. A camisole may even include internal pockets in which a prosthesis may be included for a mastectomy patient.

Many times for a young girl, a camisole may be worn as an outer garment. An example of a camisole that may be worn as an outer garment by a young girl is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,754 to Rosch et al. However, a typical camisole worn by a woman may be as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,414 to Freeman which shows the camisole top.

Camisoles have even been combined with brassieres in various forms or fashions. For example, a camisole may have brassiere cups in a body camisole as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,018 to Costanzo. With the use of such a camisole, undergarments can be eliminated while still providing support for the breast. By elimination of the bra straps, the camisole provides additional comfort.

Another type of camisole that also functions as bra is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,557 to Scott. The bra is built in and made a part of the camisole. On the other hand, just the opposite occurs when a brassiere is made with a permanently attached frontal panel as is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,171,182 to Heinen. The frontal panel is sewn in and made part of the cup portion of the brassiere.

Many other types of camisoles have been designed and worn in the past. However, none of the camisoles have the feature of being a faux camisole that may be quickly attached to the brassiere straps and worn to cover a woman's cleavage during one portion of the day, but be easily removable to reveal the woman's cleavage during another portion of the day.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention shows a faux camisole that is worn over a brassiere with only a front panel in the faux camisole. The front panel extends up over the woman's cleavage. The lower portion of the panel encircles the woman's body very similar to the lower portion of a brassiere to form a torso strap. The torso strap is elastic and (may or may not) be in one solid piece.

The upper part of the cloth portion of the faux camisole that covers the woman's cleavage has a top hem with extensions of the top hem on either end thereof. The extensions clip around the brassiere strap. The brassiere strap itself holds the upper portion of the faux camisole in place. The torso strap holds the lower portion of the faux camisole in place.

If in a later portion of the day the woman wants to show her cleavage, the upper portion of the faux camisole that snaps around the bra straps is unsnapped and the faux camisole removed. Depending on whether the torso strap is in one solid piece or has connecting straps or hooks, the faux camisole may even be removed without having to remove other clothing items.

Connections at the top of the faux camisole may be hoop and loop, snaps, buttons, or any other convenient means to attach the top of the faux camisole to the brassiere strap. In the back of the faux camisole, it may have a solid elastic strap or also have hoops and loops, snaps, buttons, or other convenient means to secure to the wearer.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a front elevation of the faux camisole as being worn by a woman.

FIG. 2 is a rear elevation view of the faux camisole.

FIG. 3 is a rear elevation view of an alternate embodiment of the faux camisole.

FIG. 4 is a rear elevation view of an alternative embodiment of the faux camisole.

FIG. 5 is a real elevation view of an alternative embodiment the faux camisole.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2 in combination, a faux camisole 10 is shown. FIG. 1 is an environmental view showing the faux camisole 10 being worn by a woman 12. The woman 12 has on a brassiere 14 that has cups 16 and straps 18. The cups 16 have a plunging neckline 20 that can show cleavage of the woman 12. The faux camisole 10 has a frontal cloth portion 22 sized and shaped to fit over the woman's breasts and brassiere 14. The frontal cloth portion has side hems 24 sewn on either side thereof.

The top of the frontal cloth portion 22 has a top hem 26 with ends 28 extending beyond the side hems 24. Inside of the top hem 26 are snaps 30. When the woman 12 puts on the faux camisole 10, ends 28 are looped over straps 18 of the brassiere 14 and snapped shut by snaps 30 as is shown in FIG. 1. The torso strap 32 extends around the body of the woman 12 just over the bra strap. The torso strap 32 is elastic and connected to the lower side of the frontal cloth portion 22 and to the lower ends of the side hems 24. By having a solid elastic torso strap 32, the faux camisole 10 is easily held into position without being uncomfortable to the woman 12.

A typical usage for the faux camisole 10 as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 would be when the woman 12 would go to work during the day, she would wear the faux camisole 10 to not show her cleavage in the work place. However, if she planned to go out on the way home, she may remove the faux camisole 10 by undoing the snaps 30 and slipping the faux camisole 10 off. This would allow the woman to show her cleavage away from the work place where it would be more appropriate, but not show cleavage during the day in a working environment.

An alternative version of the faux camisole is shown in FIG. 3 and is represented by reference numeral 34. Again, side hems 36 are attached to the frontal cloth portion 38. However, the top hem 40 has hooks and loops (also known as Velcro®) on the inside thereof. The loops 42 are located inside the side hems 36 and the hooks 44 are located outside the side hems 36 on extensions 46 of top hem 40. The hooks 44 on the extensions 46 of top hem 40 can loop over a bra strap (not shown) to connect with the loops 42. By use of the hooks 44 and loops 42 in the top hem 40, the faux camisole 34 can be adjusted based upon the size of the individual.

The torso strap 38 also has a hook and loop connector 50. The hook and loop connectors 50 may be adjusted to adjust the length of the torso strap 48.

If a woman wore the faux camisole 34 as shown in FIG. 3, the faux camisole 34 could be removed even in a public area without causing embarrassment to the wearer. The faux camisole 34 is more easily removed than the faux camisole 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. However, the faux camisole 10 shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 may be more comfortable to wear because it does not have the hook and loop connectors.

A woman may go to work in the morning in a dress, blouse or other type garment that has a plunging neckline that reveals her cleavage. While it may be inappropriate for cleavage to be shown in a work environment, there are environments where the showing of cleavage is acceptable. For example, if the woman later in the day was going out to dinner, the showing of cleavage is more acceptable. With a minimum of effort, the woman could remove the faux camisole 10 or 34 and show her cleavage at dinner in a more acceptable environment.

Referring to FIG. 4 an alternative embodiment of the faux camisole 400 is shown. The faux camisole 400 has a frontal cloth portion 402 having left side hem 404 and right side hem 406. Of the left side hem 404 and 406 it can be made from any particular material, they should be made in a manner to aesthetically match the frontal cloth portion 402.

A top hem 408 extends across the top of the frontal cloth portion 402. The top hem 408 will be visible by others and should aesthetically blend with the frontal cloth portion 402. On each end of the top hem 408 are buttonholes 410 that may loop around the brassiere strap 18 (see FIG. 1) and receive buttons 412 there through.

The bottom of the faux camisole 400 has a torso strap 414 that is again selected to aesthetically match the cloth portion 402. The torso strap 414 may be elastic or non-elastic, depending on the preferences of the wearer. In the back of the faux camisole 404, the torso strap 414 is separated with a button 416 being located on one end and on the opposing end, a series of buttonholes 418. By use of the faux camisole 400 as shown in FIG. 4, the wearer can connect it to brassiere straps at the top thereof, but with the torso band 414 being totally adjustable by button 416 and buttonholes 418. Also, the frontal cloth portion 402 is large enough to receive a wearer's cleavage therein but not be too tight or too loose.

Referring now to FIG. 5, a faux camisole 500 is shown. The frontal cloth portion 502 has a left side hem 504 and a right side hem 506 that aesthetically matches the frontal cloth portion 502.

A top hem 508 that may be visible by others is sewn into the top part of the frontal cloth portion 502. One end of the top hem 508 has a hook 510. The hook 510 will tap around the brassiere strap 18 (see FIG. 1) and connect into any of a plurality of hook loops 512 on the other end of top hem 508.

At the bottom of the frontal cloth portion 502 is the torso band 514. The torso strap 514 may be elastic or non-elastic depending upon the preferences of the wearer. In the embodiment as shown in FIG. 5, the torso strap 514 is separated in the back of the faux camisole 500. One end of the lower band 514 has a hook 516 secured thereto. On the other end of the lower band 514 is located hook loops 518. In that manner the wearer can adjust the circumference of the torso strap 510 based upon the size of the wearer. 

1. A faux camisole for covering a woman's cleavage, the woman wearing a brassiere with straps as an undergarment, the faux camisole comprising: a frontal cloth portion; side hems in said frontal cloth portion; a top hem in said frontal cloth portion with an extension on each end thereof, said extensions extending beyond said side hems; connectors on said top hem to hold a top of said faux camisole in place when said extensions are looped over said straps of said brassiere; and an elastic torso strap attached to a bottom of said frontal cloth portion, said elastic torso strap extending around the body of said woman to hold a bottom of said faux camisole in place.
 2. The faux camisole as recited in claim 1 wherein said connectors are snaps on said top hem.
 3. The faux camisole as recited in claim 1 wherein said connectors on said top hem are adjustable.
 4. The faux camisole as recited in claim 3 wherein said elastic torso strap has torso strap connectors in a rear thereof.
 5. The faux camisole as recited in claim 4 said connectors on said top hem and said torso strap connectors are hook and loop connectors.
 6. The faux camisole as recited in claim 1 wherein said elastic torso strap is removable and is connected in the back of the faux camisole.
 7. The faux camisole as recited in claim 6 wherein said connectors are hook and loop and said removable connection of said elastic torso strap is hook and loops.
 8. The faux camisole as recited in claim 6 wherein said connectors are removable buttons extending through buttonholes and said removable connection of said elastic torso strap is the same. 